Marner a game-time decision with mystery injury 

The Maple Leafs and Flames skated at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Tuesday. 

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Mitch Marner missed the morning skate and is being listed as a game-time decision for Tuesday's showdown with the Flames. It's unclear exactly what is plaguing the Maple Leafs winger, who scored the game-winning goal on Saturday in Edmonton and was on the ice for the final shift.

"Something happened in the game, I guess," coach Craig Berube said. "Just not feeling right in certain areas, so we're trying to work on it. Trying to get him ready."

Marner also missed Monday's practice. Even teammates appear to be caught off guard by the development. 

"I had no clue something was going on," said winger William Nylander. 

"I'm not going to get into it," said centre John Tavares. "We're, what, early February and you get to this point of the year, 50-plus games, there's a lot going on in terms of the grind and what you go through and the aches and the pains and all that."

Marner leads the team with 70 points this season. He is one of four players to suit up in every game. 

"He's been our best player all year," said defenceman Chris Tanev. "He does everything, right, so it's not just going to be one guy who's going to be able to do that. We're going to need a group of guys to step up and pick up the slack."

Marner plays more minutes than any other Leaf. He's averaging 21:28 per outing this season. 

If Marner is out, Max Domi will move up to the top line with Auston Matthews. That duo also played together down the stretch last season when Marner dealt with an ankle injury. 

"Obviously we're pretty familiar with each other," said Domi. "Great opportunity and [I'll] be ready to go."

"Max is a tremendous passer and sees the ice extremely well," Tavares said. "A lot of similarities between him and Mitch that way, and with their ability to distribute and find the open man and make plays, so obviously Auston feeds off that really well." 

Meanwhile, Morgan Rielly took Marner's spot as the quarterback on the top power-play unit at the morning skate. Rielly started the season in that spot, but the team has opted for a five-forward alignment of late. 

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Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who left Saturday's game with a lower-body injury and missed Monday's practice, took part in the morning skate and split reps with Jake McCabe as the quarterback on the second power-play unit. 

Ekman-Larsson was not available to the media afterwards and is considered a game-time decision. 

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Joseph Woll, who made a season high 45 saves on Saturday, will start again for the Leafs.

"He's a confident goalie right now," Berube said. "He's seeing the puck well. He's battling in there. He's competitive. That's how you make those saves by being competitive."

Anthony Stolarz is not ready to return from a knee injury, which has kept him sidelined since Dec. 12. 

"It's more about getting work in practice a little bit more," said Berube. "Shooting, traffic, all that kind of stuff, the timing side of it, he's not quite there yet."

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Dustin Wolf will get the start for the Flames. It will be his first career game against the Leafs and fellow American Matthews. 

"He's quite a player," said Calgary centre Nazem Kadri. "He's a big-time player. He wants the stage. He wants to be great and he's accountable, which is nice to see."

Wolf is making a push for the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie. How seriously should his candidacy be considered?

"Very serious," said Kadri. "You just look at his numbers alone."

Wolf is 19-9-2 with a .917 save percentage, but he's not exactly an established star yet.

"I don't really know anything about him," said Nylander, who leads the Leafs with 30 goals. "I won't probably look."

Nylander, who has scored in consecutive games, says he prefers to trust his instincts.

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Tanev is playing his first game back in Calgary since being traded by the Flames last year. The 35-year-old will be welcomed back on the video board during the first period. 

"I'll probably be locked into the game," Tanev said. "If people are cheering I'll give a wave. I obviously appreciate it, but I'm usually pretty zoned into the game, so don't pay too much attention to that stuff."

Tanev made a big impression on the Flames during his four-year run here. 

"His consistency was off the charts," said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. "There weren't too many games where you're like, 'Oof, Tanny, you aren't there.' But the one thing that always stands out for you is, no matter what the situation, I've never seen a guy play through things like he has played through at times. That's pretty impressive what he'll do for teammates."

With Alex Pietrangelo bowing out of the 4 Nations Face-Off to rest an ailment, Tanev is in contention to be a call-up for Team Canada. 

"With him being in Toronto now, I think people probably recognize how good of a player he is," Huska said. "We saw that first hand for four years." 

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Tavares picked up an assist during Saturday's win in Edmonton. The 34-year-old described his performance as "not bad." Tavares was playing for the first time since sustaining an injury at practice on Jan. 15. 

"Obviously that kind of game was great for me just because it throws you right in the fire and there's no choice but to go out there and play and focus on what you need to do to execute and not worry too much about how you’re feeling," Tavares said. "But want to build on it."

Tavares played nearly 20 minutes against the high-octane Oilers. His season average is 18:19. 

"He looked fine," said Berube. "I probably used him a little bit too much, more than I wanted to down the stretch. Maybe got a little bit gassed, but he looked fine to me. I thought he had a good game for us for the most part."

Tavares is wearing a brace on his knee, which he told TSN is a significant adjustment. It's the first time he's worn one since his junior days. On Saturday night he felt it sat in an awkward spot on his shin pad. He'll be switching to a new shin pad on Tuesday night.

Tavares will have to wear the extra support until the 4 Nations Face-Off break, but is hopeful he can play without it later in the season.

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Leafs fans made their voices heard during Saturday's win in Edmonton. 

"It's amazing, man," said Domi. "It's one of the highlights of playing for this team is the support across the whole league, really, but especially Western Canada. The atmosphere in these rinks, you look at Edmonton on Saturday, is second to none, so it's great to see." 

Plenty of Leafs fans are expected to be in attendance again on Tuesday in Calgary. 

"It's like a road game at times, unfortunately, but it is the way it is," Huska said. "I think a lot of our players have seen it before so for us it's not changing the way we're going to play the game, that's for sure. We're going to come out and try to initiate and dictate and set the tempo tonight."

The Flames will try to feed off the Leafs fans. 

"It will be a good motivation," said gritty winger Ryan Lomberg. "You want to shut them up for sure so we'll be looking forward to having a good start and rolling through all 60 here."

Lomberg is from Richmond Hill, Ont. and grew up a big Leafs fan. His favourite memory? 

"There's a lot of good ones," the 30-year-old said. "My favourite is probably all the Leafs and Sens series growing up. It felt like almost every year they would battle in the playoffs. Gary Roberts is my favourite player. He was from an early age all the way until now just because of the heart and passion he played with. It's something I pride myself on. It's a tough to put a number on how many amazing memories I had as a Leafs fan."

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Power-play units at Tuesday's Leafs skate: 

QB: Rielly 
Flanks: Matthews, Nylander 
Bumper: Tavares 
Net front: Knies 

QB: McCabe / Ekman-Larsson 
Flanks: Domi, Robertson 
Bumper: McMann
Net front: Pacioretty